Rising unemployment and living expenses have brought out the hustle in many young South Africans.
With no guarantee of a job once they graduate or finish school, many are using their passion, street smarts and entrepreneurship to make ends meet.
As a youngster growing up in Eldorado Park in Johannesburg, life was a bumpy ride for Stacey-Lee May, 22.
Then she moved into the driving seat to become one of the country's top drifters, performing hair-raising stunts while controlling a car spinning at top speed.
She's been competing professionally for five years, after being introduced to the spectator sport by her father as a way to boost her confidence.
"I was very tiny and two years younger than most of the people in class, and I ended up being bullied. My father took me to motor shows and I just knew it was something I would love to do and excel at."
Her skills have been recognised here and overseas. She featured in a Converse sneakers advert about women and girls breaking the norms and recently spent a few weeks in New York to film a reality show.
Later this year she'll spend two months in Pakistan representing SA at a motor show.
Thapelo Moyane, 22, is also making his living off cars - in a very different way.
He is washing windscreens to survive and hopes to save up enough money to one day realise his dream of becoming a filmmaker.
On good days, he makes about R200 a day at his spot at the intersection of Empire Road and Joubert Street on the border of Hillbrow.
"I lost my mother in 2008 and my brother could not make ends meet. Our father is working in Botswana and not sending us money," said Moyane, who left home in 2011 while in grade 10 and now lives in a park while saving money to go to film school.
He would love to improve local television content. "I want to get [into the industry] and hopefully make an impact. Every day I remind myself of my dream."
At just 18, professional snake-catcher Corné Uys gets as many as four call-outs a day in the summer months. The Hermanus High matric student charges about R250 for a local call-out. He picked up the skills from his father Hugo and said it's a job driven by passion rather than income.
He has been accepted at a military training facility in Limpopo next year to train as a soldier assigned to an anti-rhino-poaching unit. "In the '90s there were 75,000 rhino in SA. In 2019 there are 7,500 left. That's scary. I would love to make a difference or to say I have tried to help in some way. It won't be a high-paying job but I'm not worried about money," he said.
At just seven years old, Simthandile Tshabalala is on course to become a pro golfer by age 16. Tshabalala, from Fourways in Johannesburg, has won four kids' local tour events in the US, and has raked in 21 trophies and more than 18 medals in the nine months he has played competitively.
"I want to become the first black South African to win the US Masters. I want to wear that green jacket," he said.
Student Dineo Mogoru, 22, overcame severe depression to graduate among the top three students in her BCom degree year at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
Originally from Polokwane, she said that finding her feet in a strange city was painful, causing her anxiety. Her grades dropped.
"I cried because I was left alone in a foreign city and environment. Everything was just too fast and I couldn't cope," she said. She even contemplated dropping out of university.
But she sought counselling and a year later she received a GradStar award from a programme that recognises the top 100 students at universities in SA.
Mogoru is now a trainee accountant at Absa and continues to mentor students at her alma mater, UJ.
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